COMMUNICATION: THE ILLUSION

AND THE SOLUTION

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Noise

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Everyone is competing for your attention.  A constant stream of news on your phone.  Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Tik Tok, Google, Reddit, Amazon.  Everyone is being distracted at every minute with information and 'noise'.

 

Companies are recognising the need to re-assess their communications with employees.  To ensure they are engaged with their company’s purpose, and their specific role.  To ensure they are motivated, functioning effectively, and acting as ambassadors for the company.

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Clear as Mud

 

Company’s will typically communicate with their employees on a variety of subjects.  But these messages will often be communicated in a random, unstructured, manner.  Employees are expected to mentally identify and construct a narrative about how the company functions, and what is important, from dozens of unrelated communications, including those that ‘fly under the radar’ by not being official communications.

 

In the midst of this, often the most important information - instructions on how the company functions - is missing. Or it's jumbled, out-of-date, hidden on an intranet, and largely ignored.  Staff are often struggling to grasp ‘how things work’ because the key instructions are either missing or less than clear, despite the mass of communications they are dealing with.  

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“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion

that it has taken place”

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The Curse of Knowledge

 

Senior management will often take the view that their arrangements are satisfactory.  Staff are operating satisfactorily, for the most part.  This perspective is partly driven by ‘the curse of knowledge’ when better informed people find it difficult to put themselves in another person’s shoes, that is, think about problems from the perspective of lesser informed people.  Senior managers have a better understanding of the company, and cannot comprehend that their employees do not.  They are unable to recognise the impact, because they are ‘in the know’. 

 

When information does not flow from management, employees are often unaware, or their comprehension is poor, their connection with other parts of the company is weakened, employees deliver their roles, but their ability to function effectively as part of a wider team with a common organisational goal is undermined.  Motivation is undermined.  Poor communication is one of the fastest killers of company culture. 

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Simple, Clear, Instructions

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Companies are now reviewing their communications to their employees to ensure they are cutting through the ‘noise’ of everyday life.  There is general accord on the way forward.  Ensuring that managers and staff operate to high standards.  Aligning them on the correct ways of working in a company setting.  Ensuring that messages are easy to understand and follow.   

 

We provide policy instructions on the key functions that underpin the relationship between employees and the company.  The instructions set out the over-riding principles, standards to be met, and the process to follow.  This is covered on 3-4 pages for each subject.  Each document is self-contained, but is aligned with the others in the suite to provide a full instruction framework for managers and staff.

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